| The Fugitive Slave Act passed making it a crime to help an escaped slave or prevent his arrest. |
| Secretary of State Henry Clay asks Canada for help returning slaves who have escaped there; the Canadian government refuses. |
| The term "underground railroad" is coined when Tice Davids escapes from his master in Kentucky and disappears in the free state of Ohio.
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| s | The term "underground railroad" first appears in print. |
| Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas, an American Slave is published. |
| Harriet Tubman escapes to the North |
| The Fugitive Slave Law is passed, denying captured blacks any legal power to prove their freedom and requiring U.S.
marshals and deputies to help slave owners capture their "property" and fining them $ if they refused. |
| | The Dred Scott Decision.John brown timelineThe United States Supreme Court rules that blacks, free or slave, are not United States citizens. |
| John Brown's raid. White abolitionist John Brown
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